Vicenza, Italy

You probably have no reason to visit Vicenza, Italy, unless you happen to have family living there, like we do. There’s a US military base there, and it’s a very interesting place, but off the tourist beaten path. Just in case you’re ever in the Veneto region, visiting that tourist mecca called Venice, here’s what your missing if you don’t go forty minutes down the autostrada and visit Vicenza.

Vicenza was home to one Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, aka Palladio. Never heard of him? Me neither! He was an architect and the last of the great Renaissance artists, and his style modeled ancient Rome and Greece, earning him the nickname Palladio. Even if you have never seen his original work, you know his derivative work very well. Palladio was born in nearby Padova but was given free reign to redesign the city center (and several villas outside) of Vicenza, making the town his canvas. Here are some of his works:

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Seem vaguely familiar? See, a few hundred years later, on the far side of the Atlantic, a group of Americans were taken with his style, and that led to some monuments in his style:

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Palladio is called the Father of American architecture for his influence, especially on Washington, DC and the Capital region. So you can see Palladio’s work in DC, or in Italy. The food’s better in Italy.

Speaking of food, expect all manner of northern Italian cuisine, a small number of Japanese, Chinese, or Indian restaurants, and a few burger or BBQ joints for the Americans. One Balkan, no French, no German, no–well, you get the point. All of Italy’s regions are proud of their local cuisines, and that is what is available. In Vicenza, the local specialty is imported, dried Norwegian cod with polenta called Bacalà alla Vicentina. Why? Some poor local went to work in Venice in the last millennium, and got shipwrecked on an island off the coast of Norway for a few years. He developed a taste for the dried, salted cod there, then brought it back with him when he returned home. For the past seven hundred years, locals have been importing the same dried, salted cod, re-hydrating it with various sauces, and serving it as the city’s special dish. here’s a hint: to our uneducated palates, the cod can be a bit strong (as in fishy), so get it as a lunch or appetizer to avoid taste fatigue.

One final Palladio masterpiece is the Teatro Olympico, the world’s oldest (continuously operating) brick theater. The theater is a remarkable bit of faux design, looking like a large Roman amphitheater carved out of stone, but in reality a brick, mortar, and wood replica using visual tricks to recreate a street scene in ancient Greece as the original scene-set backdrop, which was so convincing it has never been changed. Not to spoil the surprise, but the optical illusions and slights-of-hand Palladio employed were world-class special effects in any age!

Another local hero is Antonio Pigafetta. Who? He was the first person to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. Wait, what, you thought that was Magellan? Magellan was hated by his crew, and was killed by irate islanders in the Philippines, never completing his voyage. Pigafetta was a scholar invited to document the journey, and ended up leading the remaining eighteen crewmen (out of two hundred forty who started) back to Spain. Pigafetta is thus the first one to circumnavigate the globe, the answer to a great trivia question, and he’s buried in his beloved Vicenza.

In another similar story, you might have heard of the great Vicentina love story of Romeo & Giulietta? The original novel of star-crossed lovers was written by local Luigi Da Porto, a retired military man looking for an outlet for his creativity while recovering from battle wounds. He gazed out his window at two distant castles and imagined two families, a feud, and their ill-fated children, all set in nearby Verona. His work of fiction caught the eye of the Bard of Avon (aka Shakespeare) who turned it into the far more famous play Romeo & Juliet. Sort of an early version of a remix.

Vicenza was home to many silver- and goldsmiths, so it has a reputation for fine jewelry in addition to the fine arts. It was usually under the influence or protection of neighboring Venice, and the Venetian link is obvious.

The weather was c-c-c-cold. Judy noticed it last year; this year it hit me: we’ve acclimatized to Mexico. As in, we don’t do “weather.” In Mexico, it is always sunny and warm. There is always around twelve hours of daylight per day (actually, between eleven and thirteen, but just). There are only two seasons and only one that needs a raincoat or umbrella, and then mostly in the evening. Vicenza is in the far north of Italy, within site of the Dolomite Alps, so we have overnight lows in the twenties and daytime highs in the forties: brrrrr. We didn’t mind wearing masks everywhere, as it covered our otherwise-exposed faces!

Speaking of masks, Italy re-entered the Omicron wave of the pandemic while we visited, so mask wearing (even outside) became the rule. All stores/restaurants/museums asked for the Italian Green Pass (which is not available to tourists) but accepted our CDC card in its stead.

We look forward to visiting the our family (and the region) again when it’s short-sleeve weather!